A new lamp in the house

Lamps.com asked me if I wanted to review one of their lamps several months ago, and even though we were in the middle of moving across the country, I jumped at the chance.   I had a hard time picking which lamp I wanted, but when I saw the Director's Table lamp, I knew that was the lamp I wanted!  I love its three-pronged legs, and its sleek contour.  My lamp came packaged well, was quick to assemble, and overall felt great.   Lamps.com offers lamps at all prices making it affordable for many people, and they offer a wide selection of different styles.  I highly recommend checking them out next time you are in the market for lighting.

Some other bloggers have their lamps too, so I recommend checking out what they have to say about Lamps.com.   I enjoyed seeing their lamps in their homes since we all have different tastes.   There really is a style for everyone.

Kristen F. Davis

Brittany Makes

Whipperberry

xx nancy


I received a lamp in exchange for my review, which all opinions are mine. 

Rose Bowl Flea Market

Wow.  This flea rocks.  Of course, there were some junky areas, but overall, I really wish I had a U-Haul to take back to North Carolina.  Raleigh, NC's flea market is pretty big too, but the Rose Bowl, which only happens once a month in Pasadena, CA, is at least 3 times the size of Raleigh's market.

I started out a little late getting there around 9:30 a.m.  There were lots of clothes, antiques, new items, home accessories, and of course, vintage items and collectibles.

I thought this art could be a fun DIY project.

I was drawn to this X for some reason.

I really, really wanted one of these signs, but they were so heavy and cost a little more than what I was willing to pay.

Old children's books turned into art.

For some reason I wanted this picture.  It was only $10 too, but I was afraid I was going to dislike it once I brought it home.

Lots of hardware.

Book page blocks.  I was going to buy a few these to go on a bookshelf, but I opted out.  I thought maybe the print was too small for guests to see, so it might come across as just a large black rectangle when looking at them across the room.

I should have taken a lot of up close photos of the items in this booth.  This was probably my favorite booth there.  Lots of fantastic vintage items.  I was particularly drawn to the Borden milk box and old metal canisters.

Um, how cool is that fan?

The funny thing about this post is I forgot to take photos of the things I bought.  I didn't buy much.  Okay, I only bought two items.  A sign that said "N St" and a small brass pig.  Yeah, I am shocked too.    I walked in there with the idea to spend some money on some items for our home back in NC but the nagging reality of having to make sure it fits in our car was in the back of my head the whole time.  So if you are ever in the Pasadena area during flea market time, go check it out!  But remember there is barely any shade, and this flea goes on and on and on.  There's lots to see!

Have a great weekend!  I am spending the weekend with Grandma from OR, and we are taking Owen to Sea World today.  Yippee!

new at Target

Who here is a Target fan?  I'm all over Target like white on rice because many of their items are affordable and cute.  Some things they go over board (can anyone say Neiman Marcus?) with their pricing, so I usually skip over those things or keep my fingers crossed they will go on clearance.  Over the weekend I had to pick up a few things at Target, and they had out some new items that I just had to snap a photo of for you.

*Photos taken with my phone, and I tried to include the price/tag with the item.
Here are two fun accent tables.  Wouldn't it be even more fun to cut out a wood top for the white one for a nice contrast?   Don't like white?  Spray paint it!  You could possibly turn this over, insert a clear plastic pot, add dirt (I would try to fill it all the way) and a plant.  Place it by your entry door and call it good!

I believe this yellow one holds storage.  Always a bonus in my house.

They had a few home decor items with inlays.  This small table is made by Threshold.   The color of this table is really pretty.  I would pair it with navy, black, or white and with silver accents.  (Target has this green color paired with coral, which looks nice too.)

a small collection

license plates

books via StellDirVor

arrowheads

morbid anatomy

stamps via eklektick

fabric

Willie Cole

dolls

antlers via gretha scholtz

pyrex via pyrex collective

knitalatte

When Matt and I first married, we  I decided to collect magnets of all the places we have been together.  As the amounts of magnets and my distaste in a cluttered refrigerator grew, I realized this was no longer feasible, so I stopped collecting them.   But this feeling of wanting to collect something was still within me.  It was not to fulfill the need to buy something, but rather I just wanted to have a collection.   [Maybe I need more hobbies?]  I think most people collect things, and generally, they collect things they love or that intrigue them.   I have a fondness towards small white bowls.

They are functional and can be exceptionally cute, and I think that may be a particular reason why I started to collect them.  I enjoy things that serve multiple purposes.  My bowls can be used for decorating, serving food, and for holding smaller items like jewelry or my small growing stash of washi tape.    I love the simplicity of white with a possible unexpected dose of color, and I make sure to choose bowls that are unique.  Right now, my bowls sit in my library cabinet, but maybe I should pull them out to hold my magnets.

Do you collect anything?



My bowls are from Pier 1, Target, West Elm, and World Market.

Free Printable Art Work

Free? It's on like Donkey Kong. Jenna from Q.A. Designs is offering up all of her country and state artwork to the public for free.  All you have to do is download the prints you want. I couldn't have lucked out more. NC and USA are both in orange.  There are more prints on her site.

Fabric Silhouette Tutorial

 I want to do a grouping of fabrics displayed in embroidery hoops with Owen's silhouette being the centerpiece.  These will go into his room.

If you do not want to make one but still want one for your home or as a gift, you can contact me to make one for you.

Items needed:

Embroidery hoop
Digital photo of a person in profile or a photograph
Fabric for the hoop and for the silhouette
Fusible web
Printer
Marker
Fabric marker
Pins
Scissors

1.  Take your digital image, preferably in black and white to help save colored ink, and open it in your preferred photo software.  I am using Gimp, a free software.   Go to Image -- Scale Image.  Select Inches, and press on the paper clip looking thing.

 Press on the paper clip looking thing so you can set your own dimensions. Mine is the blue circle next to inches.

Set your desired dimensions, and hit Scale.

Your image should look like this.

Go to print and preview your image.

This is what my image looks like on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

2.  Print your image, and check the size with your embroidery hoop.

3.  Trace your image with a marker, and cut it out.

4. Pin your image to your fabric.  Trace it with a fabric marker, and cut it out.

5.  Pin your silhouette to fusible webbing.  Cut it out leaving about an 1/8" around all the edges.  Follow the directions according to your fusible webbing to adhere the silhouette to the main fabric.

6.  Place fabric in embroidery hoop and trim the edges. 

Enjoy!


xx nancy


My quilting book released Sept. 24, 2015 and is on Amazon.  Check it out!